Am i being ripped off?

[RuneX2K]

Hi people i wonder if you could help me, I have just made my first purchase from ebay (fastmemoryman),
2x 1GB DDR400 PC3200, un-named brand for 56pounds (bargain i thought)
to replace 1 x 512MB DDR400 PC3200 on my new abit fatal1ty sli mobo. when it arrived and after installation it read at POST that the two sticks are equal to 1gb, 2 x 512mb, stated the same in windows cpu-z. i contacted the seller after a wait they come back with:
--
The item youve ordered is high density 128x4, your motherboard requires low density 64x8. The module youve ordered is incompatible with your motherboard.
--
My mobo manual states that it reqiures up to 4gb of PC3200 DDR400 184pin
and that is what i ordered. The seller has stated that i can send it back for an upgrade/replacement but if i do i could lse the ram and the money, also they are based in the US so extra costs on shipping.
Is the seller saying the truth about the high/low density issue and do you recommend i send it back or just cut my losses and use the 2 new strips with my existing 512mb?

Any advice would be very appreciated, thanks for your time

[Stephen B]

high density will most likely mean dual sided [chips on both sided of mem module], I was browsing ebay today and a few sellers are very upfront about high density compatibilty [some are not], the ram was very cheap which was what originally got my attention, but when anything is that cheap I always look a bit further

the stuff you have just bought is most likely supported by servers and the likes, sorry to say it is a "buyer beware" scenario and you will want to chalk it up to experience I'm afraid

[arthurleung]

May be they did really send you 2x512 instead? Try post some photo of the ram and we can try and see if its 1Gx2 or 512x2

[killie99]

dont need a picture. give us the numbers/letters on one of the rams and how many there are on the stick and we'll figure it out for you

[MD]

It probably is high density, and most consumer boards dont like it.

Suggestion from me, sell it on eBay in the UK and try and get the most of your money back, then get some more. I wouldnt send it back imo, not worth the effort....

Matt.

[oralpain]

You could link us to the auction to check. It probably is exactly what it was advertised to be. 128x4 chips do useually casue probs with consumer boards/destop cpus.

[RuneX2K]

Thanks for your help, really appreciated. I put a picture of the ram and the compatibility table from the mobo pdf manual at http://www.auxw37.dsl.pipex.com/
The chips on the pcb say : Advance Modules, AMTDB1B, DBBU, DDR DAT (The B's could 8's but im pretty sure that they are B's). Cheers guys

[RuneX2K]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...tem=6798166377

[arthurleung]

Thanks for your help, really appreciated. I put a picture of the ram and the compatibility table from the mobo pdf manual at http://www.auxw37.dsl.pipex.com/
The chips on the pcb say : Advance Modules, AMTDB1B, DBBU, DDR DAT (The B's could 8's but im pretty sure that they are B's). Cheers guys

Those advanced modules are known to be uncompatible with majority of new motherboards on the market. In Hong Kong this specific module is sold in bundle with a specific Asrock motherboard (with SIS chipset). This module never(almost there anyway) works on other motherboards, missing some capacity OR loads of errors at stock speed OR would not boot at all.

[Michael]

"dimm (dual In-line Memory 128 X 4) "

[RuneX2K]

I guess i might aswell keep them and use them as 512mb as they seem to run ok with my existing 512mb, thanks for all your advice guys il take this as a lesson. ps
anyone fancy purchasing some nice 2 x 1gb ddr400 pc3200 184pin ram cheap il take 40pounds for the both lol

[oralpain]

Run memtest86+ or something to make sure they are not producing any errors with your setup.

[koocha]

I bought the same stuff from the same bloke, and here's what I found:

In my VIA KT6000 board it would only recognise the 1gb high density stick when the bus was at 400mhz. I had the 1gb high density and 2 x 256mb low density.

When I dropped the memory bus speed down to 333mhz, it detected it all and it all works fine.

Try dropping the memory speed and see if that helps.

Tim

[arthurleung]

I bought the same stuff from the same bloke, and here's what I found:

In my VIA KT6000 board it would only recognise the 1gb high density stick when the bus was at 400mhz. I had the 1gb high density and 2 x 256mb low density.

When I dropped the memory bus speed down to 333mhz, it detected it all and it all works fine.

Try dropping the memory speed and see if that helps.

Tim

Even if you use 256+256+256 it would be the same. VIA clearly said in the spec that it only support DDR400 for 2 modules. If you install 3 modules you need to run DDR333.

[koocha]

Even if you use 256+256+256 it would be the same. VIA clearly said in the spec that it only support DDR400 for 2 modules. If you install 3 modules you need to run DDR333.

It won't detect my 1gb stick and one of my 256mb either. I tried all combinations witht the RAM and the different slots at DDR400, and whatever I tried it would only show 1gb. As soon as I dropped it to DDR333 it all worked.